Ivory towers

Great novels rarely make great movies, but for half a century one director has been showing all the others how it’s done. James Ivory has worked his magic on all sorts of authors, from Kazuo Ishiguro to Henry James, and this week the finest of all his adaptations returns to the big screen. ‘A film that’s almost two and a half hours long, non-stop talking, set in the Edwardian era — who would have thought that would be such a huge success?’ says Ivory, on the phone from his home in upstate New York. Yet somehow, this taciturn director turned a wordy novel by E.M. Forster into a gripping drama. How did he do it? By creating the ideal setting, meticulous in every detail, then stepping back and giving his creative colleagues room to breathe.

Howards End is an object lesson in directing without vanity. Ivory’s artistry is invisible — he casts his spells behind the scenes. He gives his actors time and space to get inside their characters. You’re absorbed by them because you believe in them, and because you believe in them, you care about them, even when they’re just sitting around in stuffy drawing rooms, writing letters and drinking tea. Emma Thompson won an Oscar, a Bafta and a Golden Globe for her performance as Margaret Schlegel, a decent woman torn between idealism and bourgeois respectability, but she could have shared these prizes with several of her co-stars. Like all the best conductors, Ivory allows his soloists to shine. ‘Filmmaking is like making music, it’s a collaborative effort — a lot of people have a lot to say when you’re making a movie, and you’ve got to listen to them,’ he says. ‘You have to do what’s good for the film. You have to put ego aside.’

Howards End may be remembered as Ivory’s greatest movie, but his ability to tease out great performances is by no means confined to just one film.